


Fever

by Xylianna



Series: Snapshots [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M, Songfic, drunk!Gladio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 12:10:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14236998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xylianna/pseuds/Xylianna
Summary: Gladio's night out on the town takes an unexpected turn when he wanders into a karaoke bar.





	Fever

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was "fever" with a request for Gladnis. I'm... fairly sure this isn't at all what the prompter had in mind, but I couldn't change the muse's mind.

Gladiolus Amicitia was completely, undeniably, _magnificently_ drunk.

He didn’t cut loose to this extent very often, so when he did, he made damn sure to fucking enjoy every moment of it. If you’re gonna be hungover, might as well enjoy what caused it, yeah?

This was Gladio’s sixth stop on his circuit of Insomnian watering holes. He’d started in the Galahdian district with some of the Glaive, made his way around town through dive bars and themed venues, and now found himself… uh… shit. He wasn’t really sure what type of place this particular bar was meant to be, but they had a very brightly colored sign and he already found the keeper of the booze, so he wasn’t complaining.

Sipping from the bottle of Hammerhead Hard Cider, Gladio spun idly on his barstool, people watching a bit. It was pretty packed. Not unusual for a Friday night, sure, but this seemed crowded even by weekend party-time standards. As he continued his slow perusal of the room, a thick eyebrow winged up in surprise.

A stage? The fuck?

It was shrouded in darkness, and Gladio couldn’t really make out much beyond something he thought was a microphone stand with a stool behind it. He squinted, because certainly that would increase his night vision. When a spotlight suddenly brightened up the stage, Gladio raised a hand to shield his eyes as they adjusted to the increase in luminescence.

Yep. Definitely a mic stand and stool. Looked like a monitor to one side, too.

… oh _fuck_. This was a karaoke bar, wasn’t it?

Gladio cringed and drank deeply of his cider. He had no philosophical objections to karaoke. He’d even gone out and tried it once when Nyx and Crowe were particularly persuasive. But he didn’t really feel like listening to people sing who were convinced by their booze that they had talent when in reality they sounded like dying daemons lanced with cactuar needles.

Fuck, he wasn’t drunk enough for this. Well. One way to fix that.

Gladio signaled the bartender as he chugged down his drink. Maybe it was time for something stronger. He ordered a whiskey, double, and tossed it back like it was water. Truth be told, it burned something fierce, but fuck if he’d let that show. He ordered another but held it in reserve for now, still reeling from the punch of the first. The bartender had read his Astrals-blasted mind and also brought him another cider, so he nursed that while watching to see what was about to happen on that brilliantly lit stage.

Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of Ignis Scientia walking onto the stage like he fucking owned the place, somehow simultaneously sharply angular yet lithely graceful.

Yeah, okay, Gladio had it _bad_ for Ignis, fuck you very much. He knew the vaunted tactician would never deign to notice him outside of his skill-set in protecting their shared charge, but that was okay. Having a crush didn’t hurt anyone.

Well, not _much_.

But right here, right now, Gladio didn’t give a coeurl’s electric whisker for propriety. He was firmly past the tipping point of buzzed and solidly settled into the realm of trashed. The room canted delightfully around him, and his molten amber gaze cleaved onto Ignis’s starkly beautiful form, highlighted by the kaleidoscope of the stage lighting.

And then, Ignis began to sing. Gladio could fucking swear those verdant eyes were locked on him, but that was just silly, right? Iggy didn’t even know he was there, and certainly didn’t know… didn’t know… _fuck_.

_“Never know how much I love you_  
_Never know how much I care_  
_When you put your arms around me_  
_I get a fever that’s so hard to bear_  
_You give me fever”_

Did Ignis just wink at him? Dammit, Gladio must be more drunk than he thought. Oh well. He’d enjoy this inebriated delusion while it lasted.

_“When you kiss me_  
_Fever when you hold me tight_  
_Fever in the morning_  
_Fever all through the night_ ” 

Gladio decided he needed that second shot of whiskey, now please. He had to assume from the cat-calling and cheers of the crowd that Ignis was actually singing. Or at least, _someone_ was singing, and his alcohol-soaked brain was filling in the image of his crush. Gladio’d take what he could get.

He tossed back the shot, chased it with a swig of cider, and decided those were two flavors that just did not need to mix. Ugh.

He looked back to the ongoing performance, realizing he’d missed half the song. Gladio did his best to focus, despite the haze blurring his vision.

Even distorted by drunkenness, Ignis was a sight to behold.

And his voice? Fucking amazing.

_“Now you’ve listened to my story_  
_here’s the point that I have made_  
_Chicks were born to give you fever_ ” 

One manicured brow arched in eloquent denial to the statement that it was only ‘chicks’ who could incite such a thing.

_“Be it Fahrenheit or Centigrade_  
_They give you fever when you kiss them_  
_Fever, if you live you learn_  
_Fever till you sizzle_  
_What a lovely way to burn…_ ” 

Uh… were those sparks?

_“What a lovely way to burn…”_

Yep. Ignis was definitely conjuring fire around those fine-boned hands, tiny flames flickering around gloved fingertips enticingly.

_“What a lovely way to burn…”_

Gladio stood and began to cross the room, his drink forgotten. He knew full well he was like a moth being drawn to a fucking flame, and he couldn’t care less.

_“What a lovely way to burn…”_

As the last note trailed off, Gladio stood at the foot of the stage and stared up at Ignis with eyes held perhaps wider than strictly necessary as he strove to see clearly through the fog of liquor.

The crowd went wild, stealing away the words Ignis was apparently speaking. Gladio stared at his lips, trying to parse together the syllables shaped by them, and failing miserably.

But then Ignis climbed down from the stage, giving way to the next performer. He walked over to Gladio and smiled. Gladio thought Ignis had never looked more… radiant. Yes, that was the word. Those gemstone eyes were bright and the grin genuine rather than pasted on by political necessity. Tiny beads of sweat caused his sharp features to glisten in the dim lighting of the bar.

Gladio wanted to lick the droplets away, taste the salt, taste the satin of his skin.

 _Gods_ , how he wanted…

“Gladio?” Ignis tried to get his attention, and Gladio realized he’d been totally zoned out, staring to hard he didn’t hear a single word formed by that precise accent.

“Yeah?” he managed gruffly, shoving his hands in his pockets so he didn’t do something stupid like grab Ignis and slam him against that wall and—

“I had asked, what brought you here tonight? This isn’t your typical venue,” Ignis said smoothly, smile becoming a touch self-deprecating.

“Honestly? I dunno. Random chance. Fate.” Gladio realized he was babbling, and figured he’d mask it by taking a sip of his drink, belatedly realizing he’d left it at the bar.

“I see,” Ignis said gravely. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.”

“Yeah?”

“Indeed,” Ignis nodded. A moment later, his stoic veneer shattered as he grinned so playfully Gladio was almost convinced he must be a Niff spy. “I need a drink. Buy me one?”

“Uh… sure,” Gladio stammered, feeling flustered by the purring tone wrapped around those simple words, the even cadence of Ignis’s speech a contrasting counterpoint to his rasping timbre. Gladio turned and headed towards the bar. To his immense pleasure - and confusion - Ignis entwined his gloved fingers with one of Gladio’s hands, and didn’t let go even when they’d reached the bar and sat.

Okay… maybe karaoke wasn’t so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Song is Fever by Peggy Lee.
> 
> Thanks for reading. <3 Flail with me on [Tumblr](https://xylianna.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
